Johannesburg is set to become the centre of world cricket when it hosts both the highly anticipated India-Pakistan group-stage clash and the final of the 2027 ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup.
The International Cricket Council (ICC) has officially released the full schedule for the 14-team tournament, which will be jointly hosted by South Africa, Zimbabwe and Namibia. The games started on Friday, October 2 October and will run until November to 21 next year.
The tournament will feature 57 matches across 12 venues, bringing the world’s leading one-day international teams to Southern Africa.
The opening phase begun in Windhoek, Namibia, on 2 October, with a three-team Super Series involving the three lowest-ranked teams from the World Cup Qualifier. The winner of that round-robin competition expected to secure the final Group Stage place.
The main Group Stage gets underway on 7 October, when defending champions Australia meet India at Newlands Cricket Ground in Cape Town in a repeat of the 2023 World Cup final.
South Africa will begin their campaign against New Zealand in Cape Town on 9 October, while Zimbabwe will also open their campaign that day against a qualifier in Bulawayo.
But the fixture that is likely to attract enormous attention around the world will take place the following day.
India against Pakistan in Johannesburg
India and Pakistan have been drawn in the same Group A alongside Australia, Afghanistan, Zimbabwe and Qualifier A.
The two traditional rivals will meet at Wanderers Stadium in Johannesburg on Sunday, 10 October 2027.
The Wanderers, popularly known as the Bullring, will therefore host one of the most anticipated matches of the group stage.
The fixture comes just three days after India’s opening match against Australia in Cape Town, while Pakistan will face Afghanistan in Tshwane on 8 October before meeting their neighbours in Johannesburg.
South Africa are in Group B, together with New Zealand, Sri Lanka, England, Bangladesh and Qualifier B.
The Proteas’ Group Stage programme includes matches against New Zealand, Qualifier B, England, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka.
New format
The 2027 tournament will introduce a new progression format after the Group Stage.
The top three teams from each of the two groups will advance to the Super Seven phase, together with the best-performing fourth-placed team.
The seven teams will then compete for four places in the semi-finals.
The Super Seven phase is scheduled to run from 25 October to 14 November, with matches taking place across South Africa, Zimbabwe and Namibia.
The top four teams at the end of that phase will qualify for the semi-finals.
The first semi-final will be played in Cape Town on 17 November, while the second will take place in Tshwane on 18 November. Both semi-finals will have reserve days.
Johannesburg gets the final
The tournament will reach its climax at the Wanderers on 21 November 2027, when Johannesburg hosts the World Cup final.
The final also has a reserve day on 22 November if required.
This means Johannesburg has been handed two of the tournament’s biggest fixtures — the India-Pakistan group encounter and the World Cup final.
The 2027 World Cup will be the first men’s senior Cricket World Cup hosted in Africa since the 2003 edition, when South Africa, Zimbabwe and Kenya staged the tournament.
For Namibia, the tournament will mark its first time hosting matches at a senior men’s Cricket World Cup.
The competition will be played across eight venues in South Africa, three in Zimbabwe and one in Namibia, giving supporters across the three countries an opportunity to experience the global cricket spectacle.
With India and Pakistan meeting in Johannesburg before the tournament returns to the same venue for the final, the City of Gold is guaranteed to have a major role in deciding the destination of the 2027 World Cup trophy.